Vestri Complexo
by Dreamicide
Summary: Essentially, "What goes around comes around." — ZelosColette


**Notes:** Zelette. You must love it. Also, the title is what I got after typing "Your Embrace" into an English to Latin translator. It probably means something totally different, or is like "YOU TIGHT HUG."The story begins right after Zelos offers to keep tabs on Lloyd and everyone when they want to go to Sybak and find out how to cure Colette's _completely creepy soullessness_. And so without further ado, I proudly present, "You tight hug."

**I don't own shit. **

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**Vestri Complexo**

"Hey, Zelos…"

The man being spoken to gave a dramatic sigh as he turned to his new companion. "I already _told_ you Lloyd, refer to me as 'Great and Wonderful Chosen Zelos'!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Lloyd nonchalantly waved his hand aside, "I just want to ask a favor."

The red head stopped walking and raised his eyebrow. "Hmm? What's this? The poor peasant who came rudely crashing down into this world wants to ask _me_, the second most powerful person in Tethe'alla, a favor? I'm not sure what your culture is like over there in the poverty stricken world, but over here I believe that would be considered rude."

"Why _yes_, oh Great and Wonderful Chosen Zelos, I believe I _am _asking a favor," Lloyd said mockingly.

"Behave yourselves, you two," was all the professor standing behind them offered.

"_Yes_, my sweet 'n sexy professor~!" Zelos whirled around and raised his hands excitedly.

"...And do not call me that."

Zelos gave a hearty laugh in response. "Come on Professor, lighten up a little!"

"Don't change the subject! I still need to ask you a favor," Lloyd grabbed Zelos's shoulder and pulled him back around.

The man in question lowered his arms in defeat. "All right, all right, what is it you need so badly?"

"Well," the swordsman crossed his arms and gave a glance to the party, "it's been quite a while since we've stocked up on supplies and upgraded our weapons. I figured since, you know, we're in the capital city and all, we could take a trip to some shops and stock up. It seems a little pointless to go journey all the way to another continent while having outdated weapons and rationing our gels. So before we all go to Sybak, let's go to the stores and shop for a bit, okay?"

Zelos gave his companion a blank look for a second before smiling. "All right! Sounds like a plan."

Lloyd grinned in response. "Great! Okay," he turned around to speak to the rest of the party. "Genis, your kendama has really worn out a lot, so we'll have to get you a brand new one. Professor's staff is working great the way it is currently, but we really need to upgrade your armor, maybe get something customized for you. Colette…" the group of companions shifted their gaze toward the unanimated girl with the perpetually blank gaze. "Actually, I think Colette is fine for now." The eerie vigor she displayed whenever presented with a threat was more than enough evidence that her shell of a body could fend for itself with no regards to self weaponry or defense.

Genis added in, "Presea already has her own weapon, too."

Lloyd nodded. "All right then," he turned around, "do you need anything, Zel—_HEY!_"

As Lloyd babbled on about the parties needs, he failed to notice the Great and Wonderful Chosen Zelos merrily striding his way over to the other side of the street.

"Where the hell are you going?"

Zelos stopped abruptly in his tracks and turned around, an arm wrapped behind his head. "Well, come _on_, you think such an important guy like me wouldn't already have the works of the greatest blacksmith in all of Meltokio? There's nothing for me to _upgrade_, I've got the highest quality weapons and armor. Go on ahead and shop. I'm going on ahead to my place; the real big one next to the castle. I have to make sure I bid my hunnies farewell, after all."

Lloyd paused. "…Okay, I get your point." Then another pause. "But would you mind taking Colette and Presea along with you?"

Genis looked flabbergasted. "Wait a second, what? Lloyd, are you _hearing_ yourself? You want to leave _both_ Presea _and_ Colette with him? First of all, we barely know the guy, and what we _do_ know is that he's an obnoxious, dim-witted skirt-chaser—" ("Little brat." Zelos muttered) "—second of all, Colette is his direct enemy! He knows the fact that she's alive is a threat to Tethe'alla. He might try and finish the job Sheena failed to do! And third, he seems creepy enough to try to pull some stunt on Presea as well—!"

"…No business in the shopping district." The soft voice of Presea interrupted Genis's ranting. "I will go with the Chosen."

"Eh…heeeeeeh?" Genis's jaw dropped as he turned around toward the pink haired girl. "Buh-but Presea! W-what if he tries to…you know," he leaned over, "do something suspicious to you?"

Keeping her blank stare straight ahead, Presea responded with, "I will kill him."

…

"_Ahahahaha!_" Zelos had a mix of bursting out with laughter and shivers running up and down his spine. "Yeeesh, I get the point! I won't do anything to the little angel or the little rose flower, all right?" He held his hands up and mockingly crossed his heart.

"But…you're sure you don't want to come, Presea?" Genis looked back to the girl.

"I am sure."

Genis dropped his head in defeat.

**

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.o( despite the careless words you say, i'm always keeping faith )o.

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"And _welcome_ to my humble abode, my little princesses!" Zelos stretched his arms out and gave a wide mouth smile toward his guests.

They both stood in their spots and did not react.

After a few seconds, Zelos relaxed and turned around. "Sheesh. Of all the women I could have brought, they leave me with the two porcelain dolls, huh."

His musings were interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. Zelos moved his glance up to see Sebastian coming down after finishing some dusting. "Welcome home, Master Zelos. I see you have brought guests, shall I prepare drinks?"

Zelos waved his hand in dismissal. "Nah, I doubt they'd be impressed with anything." At the raise of his butler's eyebrow, Zelos added, "I'll explain later." Turning toward the two girls, he said, "Well, my little darlings, it's just us here now, want to do anything special~?"

No response.

Zelos sighed. _Should've known. Old habits die hard I guess. _"All right, the guys will probably be out for a few hours so I'll go ahead and show you to the guest rooms and you can…take a nap or something. Sound good?"

No response.

Another sigh.

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.o( maybe we both knew it at the time )o.

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"Here we are, my little angel. The biggest guest room in the house, available for you to do anything you want. You like~?" Zelos gave her a grin, but after a moment of silence he dropped it. "You can't even tell I'm right beside you, can you..."

"Master Zelos," the butler popped his head from the doorway, "Presea has been seated comfortably."

"Ah, right, thanks Sebastian." The red head replied.

"Anything else you need?"

"Nope. I'm good."

"I see," the man turned to close the door behind him, then paused. He added, "These girls are quite deviant of your habitual pick…" before closing the door and walking away.

Zelos glanced at Colette, standing there with nothing more to offer than an unemotional face and a painful death, and muttered, "You got that right."

He then led the girl to the center of the room. After making sure she was well balanced and looked like she could stand there for a hundred years if allowed to, Zelos began making his way back out the door. Before enclosing his hand around the doorknob, however, he paused before taking a momentary look back at Colette.

This was the Chosen of Sylvarant. He hadn't really given any thought to that fact before, but in the moment of peace and silence, the information was starting to really sink in. _This was the Chosen of Sylvarant_.

He dropped his hand from the door knob to his side and continued gazing at the girl standing several feet away from him.

It almost didn't seem real. Zelos did not allow himself to think too much about the fact that she was here before since so much other things were going on earlier, but now he could take a moment to stop and _really reflect_ upon it.

Zelos took a few long strides over and stood in front of Colette once more. Raising his right hand up, he slowly cupped her left cheek and laughed to himself. "You are _nothing_ like the Chosen I imagined you to be," he said to her, without any expectations for the girl to reply.

And it was the truth. The first time Zelos was ever presented with the knowledge of another world and another Chosen, the first image to pop in his head was a tall male priest. That was about ten years ago, so his imagination was rather limited compared to the current point in time. As he grew up and became a man, he preferred to think of the other world's Chosen as a female. Just to make the other person more of a foil to himself, was how he explained it. Of course everyone just thought it was because of his profuse admiration of breasts.

She would be tall, he'd say to himself. Have a little bit of muscle from fighting, but not too much. Maybe wield a staff. She would have pure white hair longer than any other girl he had ever seen.

"You would wear church robes," without thinking, Zelos found himself repeating the characteristics of his imagination's Chosen out loud to himself. "And since you came from the declining world, you would be serious and stern. You'd have a deep soothing voice. Incredible intelligence. Ample bosom. A sharp tongue. And…" his attention drew to Colette's cheeks and lips, "…a beautiful smile. But," he laughed to himself, "you had to show up being an empty shell. You're right here in front of me and I can't even tell what your voice sounds like, what your smile looks like, or anything. Rather anti-climatic, don't you think?" he asked, once again without expecting an answer.

After a few more seconds, Zelos lowered his hand from Colette's cheek.

Never mind the fact that Sylvarant's Chosen was completely different than what Zelos had imagined, but because of her eerie condition, he could not even ask her the thousands of questions that he wanted to ask the other Chosen. Is her life one big joke as well? Does she suffer as much as him? Is she loved by her parents? The fact that the people she came here with are so fervent on protecting Colette and returning her normal self back was enough evidence that she's surrounded by friends who love her dearly…already something Zelos never had his whole life.

It was during these moments of Zelos musing when he decided what his ultimate goal for helping out Lloyd and the others was. Sure, he was ordered to keep tabs on them. Sure, it was for the good of Tethe'alla. But now he found a new ulterior motive.

He wanted to talk to Colette.

Just talk to her. Nothing more, nothing less. Listen to her voice. Look at her smile. Find out about her life. How she feels about being a Chosen.

Just...talk.

Zelos looked deep into the blank angel's eyes before chuckling to himself and softly muttering, "Maybe I'll tell you about myself, as well."

And with that, Zelos pulled a move that not even he saw coming.

He gripped Colette's shoulders, almost forcefully drew the girl over to his chest, and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and back as he leaned his head down to her neck, ear touching ear.

A sudden, out-of-the-blue hug.

He was surprised that the shell of a body didn't grab his arm and fling him out the window. That was, after all, her reaction the first time he tried to lay a hand on her, just a few hours ago. But no—the only reaction he got was the girl's angel wings drawing out from her back and furiously fluttering in confusion.

Zelos didn't care. This was the Chosen of Sylvarant he was hugging. This was the person he thought about since he was a boy. This was his motivation. This was Colette.

He finally met her.

Embracing her, Zelos finally realized just how _small_ Colette is. Everything about the girl was as petite as they come, and the man told himself to be careful; he almost felt like he could break her like a pile of sticks.

Eventually, Zelos loosened his grip around the angel and took a step back to look at her. Her stature made absolutely no change; he may as well have never hugged her—she wouldn't be able to tell any difference.

The redhead reached out and cupped Colette's left cheek again. Leaning forward to level his face with hers, he stared straight head-on into the endless orbs of the angel's eyes and said out loud with confidence, "Once this is over and done with and you have your soul back, we are going to have a long talk. Chosen to Chosen. Deal?

...

He took the silence as a yes.

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.o( when you catch my soul upon waking, will you make a wish? )o.

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Tossing and turning was not much help in getting Zelos to sleep. Heimdall was a city of complete nature—there were no sounds of industry or blinking lights to lull him to sleep like back at home. After an hour of complete darkness and hearing no more than his steady breathing, the man got frustrated, threw the blanket off of him, and sat up.

How many months has it been since he first went out to Sybak with Lloyd and the others? Zelos honestly did not think those events would impact him very much. He would accompany them to Sybak, they would find out how to cure their Chosen, and then the King and the Pope would have probably imprisoned them all together for the rest of their lives to keep them from going back to Sylvarant. Book closed. End of story. But then he had to go and get himself all _heretical_ and labeled as a traitor to the King, and look where he's ended up.

Although hanging out with Lloyd and the group has proven to become the best months of his life, Zelos admitted to himself.

Of course the adventure was steadily coming to a close, he could feel it. Especially with one of the most important upcoming fights in a few hours that would decide whether or not the party can reunite the worlds.

Scratching his head with freshly unkempt hair, Zelos let out an exasperated sigh and grumbled, "Guess I'll go talk to Lloyd or something…doubt he's getting much sleep either." He kicked his feet upward before swinging around and placing them on the floor. Then he got up and quietly exited the room before making his way down the hallway to see if Lloyd was still up.

He turned down the hall and recognized the door that his friend entered after everyone said their goodnight's to everybody. Zelos walked as quietly as he could over to the door and raised his hand out to open it.

However, before he was able to reach up and grab the doorknob, a light-hearted voice interrupted his misty thoughts; "Lloyd's not in there."

Zelos would have jumped if he allowed himself to. Whipping himself around, he saw that it was Colette who spoke to him, gripping the doorframe of her own room.

Zelos looked at Colette and glanced back and forth from her to the room he was about to enter. "He's…?"

"Not in there." The girl smiled as she finished his sentence.

"…Ah." Zelos's hand dropped from the doorknob and he gave a sigh.

The now-animated angel took a few steps and stood beside of him and looked up with innocent eyes. "Did you want to talk to Lloyd, too?"

"Too…? Yeah," Zelos glanced at Colette before looking back at the door and scratched the back of his head. He took a sharp breath in before asking, "Is that why you're up too?"

"Mmhmm," Colette nodded. "I couldn't sleep. And…I didn't think Lloyd would be sleeping either. I could tell he's really stressed out about tomorrow…"

Zelos gave a half-hearted laugh, "Can't say I blame the dude. I mean, everyone's expecting him to kill his own _father_ tomorrow. As big of a bastard that guy is, Lloyd probably still doesn't want to kill him. 'Course he's upset. But," he leaned his head upward and scratched the back of his neck once more, "looks like someone beat us to coming in and giving him a talking to…" so then what else was there to do? "Hey," he looked back down at Colette and gave a big smile, "my dear sweet little angel, would you do me the honor of accompanying me on a walk?"

The girl glanced up at Zelos before closing her eyes and giving him the biggest smile she could muster. "Yes, of course!"

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.o( you've got a secret, but you won't share it )o.

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"The stars are awfully pretty tonight," Colette said out loud, gazing out to the heavens with softness in her now-blue eyes.

Zelos raised his head back to look at the stars and then drew it back to look at his walking partner. "Not nearly as pretty as you are, my darling angel," he replied with a playful grin.

The girl turned to him and only laughed in response.

"What, you think I'm joking? Have no fear, the Great and Wonderful Chosen Zelos never tells a lie!" the man raised his hands and crossed his heart, grinning.

Colette stopped laughing and raised her eyebrow at him.

"Okay, except for the whole betraying you guys thing."

At his statement, the girl's expression softened. "I…didn't doubt you back then, Zelos." Her gaze fell to the ground as her hands drew together from her sides.

Zelos was walking ahead of her, but at her words he stopped and turned around. Shrugging, he said, "It's okay, Colette. You don't have to try to make me feel better; I know at that moment you all hated my guts and would've liked nothing more than to skewer my brain."

"N-No!" the sudden outburst caught the man off guard. "I never hated you, Zelos! None of us hated you…sure, we were angry and confused, and definitely hurt…but we never hated you. At least,_ I_ never hated you."

Zelos didn't have the heart to continue to disagree with her, instead walking back over to her, taking his hand and raising her chin up. He gave her a closed-eyes smile and said, "Forgive me, my dear angel. I shouldn't have doubted you. So," he let go of her chin and crossed his arms together. "What made you continue to trust me so much back there, hmm?" he gave a soft smirk.

Colette gave a light-hearted smile and replied, "Because you're a Chosen."

Zelos blinked.

At first he was tempted to sputter out "_What?_" but his easy-going perverted mask did not allow him to. Instead he uncrossed his arms, threw some of his hair back and laughed, "Haha! Well, as always my dear little angel, you've caught me off guard. One of the many things I just _love_ about you~" he gave her his best smile before asking, "And just how does my status as a Great and Wonderful Chosen change that?"

At this question Colette's gaze fell to Zelos's feet as she answered, "I don't think a Chosen can be a bad person…that's why they're _chosen_, right? And also," she drew her eyes up to meet Zelos's, "you're the only other person in both worlds that shares this title with me. It's like you said, 'We Chosen have to stick together!'" she beamed as her companion's old quote came out of her mouth. "And even if you _weren't_ the Chosen, if you were just a normal person living in Tethe'alla, then still I would never doubt you."

Zelos raised his eyebrow.

"…Because you're our…you're my friend."

…

After a silent moment Zelos let out a sharp sigh and drew his hand to the back of his neck. "Sometimes you're just too nice for your own good, dear angel. I don't deserve half—no, one percent of your kindness." He spoke the last part with light-heartedness to avoid sounding serious.

Colette chose not to reply to Zelos's statement. Instead, after a few minutes of mutual silence and gazing out at the stars, the small girl closed her eyes in content and began, "Zelos…do you remember what I told Lloyd…after I became my normal self? At Fuji Mountains?"

Zelos paused while processing his walking companion's change of topic, but softly smiled and said, "Yup, sure do. You kept thanking him for his birthday gift to you."

"That I was so happy, but I couldn't say anything."

"Yeah."

"It was one of the most horrible feelings I have ever had. Just being _soulless_. Watching people around you, talking about you like as if you're a _thing_…And hearing someone talk to you, but you can't respond at all. Lloyd and Professor and everyone talked to me so much when I didn't have a heart, but I could hear each sentence they spoke, even if they didn't know it. It comforted me so much though, that they still made sure to treat me like a person, even though I could never say anything back. I _always_ wanted to talk back, but I just _couldn't_. I couldn't speak, I couldn't laugh, or smile…"

Zelos couldn't find many comforting words to say to a situation like this, since he never had the chance to experience it.

Instead he resorted to the only verbal consoling he was an expert at; flattery. "Even so, my dear, once you had your heart back, your smile turned out to be one of the most beautiful sights I have ever had the honor of viewing. It was definitely _more_ than worth the tasks we all went through to see it."

Colette slightly blushed. Normally Zelos's flatteries were simply fun and entertaining to her, but… "So I guess my smile passed your expectations?"

The man nodded. "You passed my expectations all right…you overshot them and left them in the dust for _miles_."

Colette lightly giggled; apparently Zelos wasn't picking up on what she was getting at. Did he forget about the whole thing? Granted, it _had_ been a few months, but still. Perhaps he was feigning obliviousness.

"Well, after I was back to normal, I did get to thank Lloyd. But," she drew her foot from the ground and took a light step, "I never had the chance to thank _you_, either," she explained with a smile as she took another small step closer to her fellow Chosen.

Once again, Zelos's eyebrow rose. That's strange. He didn't recall ever giving her something like jewelry or flowers. "Thank me? For what—?"

The man barely had the chance to get the words out of his mouth before the girl took a small leap toward him, her arms outstretched. She wrapped her hands and arms around Zelos's back and squeezed tightly.

A sudden, out-of-the-blue hug.

"…!"

…For once, Zelos was completely, utterly, honest-to-god speechless. _That's right. If she was conscious when Lloyd gave her the birthday present…then…back before then, when she was in the house…_

After a few seconds of tightly constricting her fellow Chosen, Colette raised her head from being buried in Zelos's chest and beamed. Zelos drew his arms up and gave her a soft squeeze in return.

Colette still had not let go of Zelos when she spoke.

"So let's have our long talk…Chosen to Chosen."

_Maybe I'll tell you about myself, as well. _

**Terminus

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**Notes:** More latin. Wow, I'm such a poser. The brackets contain little snippets from lyrics of different Gregory and the Hawk songs. They're lovely music.


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